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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GeorgeM, post: 1471445, member: 28550&quot;]No, no, no. Just no. The fine details that give a coin its definition are in the upper layers. If you strip those layers off with chemicals or electrolysis, you are doing terrible damage to the coin (and its value). </p><p><br /></p><p>There are some times where cleaning a coin is justified (such as coins that coins that have sediment built up on them from being buried underground or recovered from shipwrecks). There are a few others - for example, I&#039;m on the fence about using acid etching to identify worn date Buffalo nickles.</p><p><br /></p><p>But, making a coin &#039;shiny&#039; is a terrible idea, IMO. You can get the same effect by tossing it into a rock tumbler. </p><p><br /></p><p>Numismatists go through fashions just like anyone else. Toners are &quot;in&quot; right now, blast white coins were &quot;in&quot; for most of last century. But coins with the finest features obliterated have never (and likely will never) carry much of a premium over their melt value. And, all of the techniques you mentioned do lighten coins in a measurable way.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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